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PALAU PRESIDENT NAKAMURA

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/21/1999 - 00:00

REPUBLIC OF PALAU

Office of the President Koror, Palau

NEWS RELEASE December 19, 1999

MEETS WITH JAPANESE LEADERS

President Kuniwo Nakamura and a delegation including presidential Chief of Staff Mr. Temmy Shmull and Director of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Steven Kanai, left for Japan to meet with Japanese leaders to discuss issues of importance to the members of the South Pacific Forum and to lay the foundation for the Japan-South Pacific Forum summit. The summit will take place in Japan during the third week of April next year.

President Nakamura, as Chairman of the South Pacific Forum, is traveling at the invitation of the Japanese government and will meet with His Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan, the Prime Minister of Japan, high-ranking officials of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and senior members of the South Pacific Forum Secretariat to set the agenda for the planned summit. This summit will draw upon all the members of the South Pacific Forum to discuss economic, environmental, and political issues of mutual concern.

While in Japan, the President is also expected to have follow-up discussions on matters raised in the bilateral conversations between the Republic of Palau and Japan during Palau’s hosting of the 30th South Pacific Forum, including eligibility for Japanese grant aid for projects such as the new airport terminal.

Although this meeting arises as part of President Nakamura’s role as Chairman of the South Pacific Forum, it also marks the third time the President has met with the Emperor of Japan and reflects the very warm relations between the two nations.

The President and his delegation are expected to return on December 23.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.